Generals for action against AL

Generals for action against AL

With the movement proceeding smoothly, despite a series of provocative acts by the Pakistan army and also through its encouragement of Bihari resistance to Bangabandhu's political programme in such areas of Dhaka city as Mirpur and Mohammadpur, a pattern had set in.
Of course, to much amazement and public outrage, the non-Bangalee Bihari community in Mirpur and Mohammadpur refused to observe the general strike that was going on all over the province and even went around intimidating Bangalee residents of the areas if they so much as expressed support for the Awami League programme.
That did not, however, deter a number of Bihari young men from coming forth in support of the non-cooperation movement. Many were enthusiastic about the protest against the machinations of the Yahya Khan junta and genuinely believed that unless power was transferred to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the political crisis in Pakistan would continue.
Away in Rawalpindi, associates of General Yahya Khan, notably General Abdul Hamid Khan, General Gul Hasan and General SGMM Peerzada, increasingly began to assert themselves through asking for tough action against the Awami League. General Hamid was particularly of the view that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's movement had to be crushed and the chief of the Awami League needed to be taught a lesson.
Curiously, none in the junta was willing or ready to condemn Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had precipitated the whole crisis in the first place. Control over the regime appeared to be slipping out of Yahya Khan's hands. The military ruler, as some of his close associates were to report later, appeared dazed and was clearly unable to make sense of what was happening in the country.
In Bangladesh, AL General Secretary Tajuddin Ahmed was a permanent presence on the scene through his presentation and enumeration of the directives issued by the party to keep the administration going in Dhaka and elsewhere. On March 11, 1971, Tajuddin made it a point to thank the people of Bangladesh for coming forward with their full cooperation and support for the nationalist movement in Bangladesh.
A confident Awami League leadership prepared to deal with the regime, an inevitability it saw happening any time.